Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-26
LICENSE IN NEW YORK
One Of the Great Issues Hurrying to the
FrOnt-HOW the Liquor Question
Gets into Politics.
The Tending Two Years Probably Msan a
Getting Ready for a Huge Contest Over
Restraint or no Restraint.
Gath In Cincinnati Enquirer.

Alfred Townsend wrote letter to the
Cincinnati Enquirer on the subject Of
temperance and politics, extracts from
which will be of interest in Texas at this
time.
The principal news in New York con
Germs the liquor and temperance question.
Governor Hill occupies the position
Horatio Seymour had generation past.
In 1854 Maine prohibitory liquor law
was passed by the Legislature of New
York, and vetoed by Governor Seymour
This was thirty-three years ago, which,
believe, is the defined limits of a human
generation. Seymour is in his grave
The temperance question, after being re-
tired from the front by the slavery issue,
reconstruction and money hunting
fever, which was nearly universal, is now
distributed over more area than in Sey-
mour's time. Yet even then it extended
into southern as well IS northern states.
Delaware had a prOhibitory bill, which l
well remember as q lad of ten or eleven.
In order to retire
THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION
the Known Jthing agitation was pro-
duCed. 1t was also alleged that the Maine
liquor law promoters were aDolitionists
and that fanaticism on liquor and slavery
were about the same thing. The war
itself was greatly provocative of the con-
sumption OF liquor, although it imposed
| muCn higher taxes on every sort Of
alcoholic beverage. Liquor was intro
duced in the army to promote the health
of the troops in malarious camps, was
vastly used in the hospitals, and became
g subject of pursuit by privates and
officers. No trade thrived in the war
like the liquor trade. Ever since the war
there has been 8 slow gathering up of
habits, and one by one old licenses have
been forced out of the way until the tenn
peranCe question has been confronted by
large minOrities of both the political
parties.
You find in Ohio that a proportion of
| Democrats leave their party when liquor
J or anti-HquOr comes radically to the front
The Republicans probably lost the last
presidential election by the temperance
vote, aud Mr.. Blaine trimming on that
subject was rather injured than helped
| He announced that as he was a national
candidate, he should not vote on the state
issue of prohibition. Nevertheless, he
carried by reduced maj0rities the strong
| temperance states, like Iowa and Kansas.
At the present time, through the local
! option legislation, liquor is shut out OF
| larger area Of country than ever before
in the United States. The traveller who
goes from state to state unaware of the
movement of local reforms, finds himself
tonight in a place where nearly every
o'her house is saloon, and tomorrow
night in a place where ere has been no
innnr fO So1a 4rryO
Whoever watches such publications as
the Brewers Journal will see that the
| local option movement is giving great
| concern to the beer-makers in the east,
and hear also that in the vicinity Of New
York the brewers complain that they are
being perpetually OlaCk-mailed under the
guise of friendship by state legislators,
who pretend they have stopped prOhib
| itory or high license legislation. One
cause Of the excited feeling of the brew
ers is the enormous plant they have put N
to reach wider area of custom than their
fOreteiheTs expected. The beer trade, at
least in the vicinity of New York, tells it's
own story OF uncertain responsibility. The
brewers are always talking OF improving
the quality OF their customers, instead of
improving the quality of their beer, mean
ing by that remark that they are selling
beer to a class of saloOn-keepers who do
not pay their bills if they are given any
extension of credit, whereas they want
good customers who will meet the col
lector p. omptly.
Having had large facilities of travel |
note that local option, generally speaking,
abides where it is tried as an experiment.
10 that form it is not the imposition of
outsiders, but the voluntary action of the
resi- .ents, prompted by a knowledge of
their own concerns and safety A nomi-
cidal community, for instance, would, to
prevent murders and vendettas, strike at
the grOg shops. The Germans in the
United States are not unit on the subject
of drinking or licensing, as l have fire.
quent reason to find out Many of them
discover in the United States that tenn
perance, indeed, abstinence, suits the
climate better than indulgence, and
others perceive that saloon government
is too general in this country, and that
OUR POLITICS AND OUR DIsTILLERIEs
too often use the same worms. Taking
to German In Washington city only last
Monday, upon the closing Of the saloons
universally the day before, he said:
"NOW, tell you that ultimately they will
all have to close on Sundays Yesterday
IuoJ a1leStCu DOldIII CudmueTldln anu the |
persons who have been supposed to be |
above Interference on account of their |
influence. In Germany, Wnere free |
saloons have been allowed all along, |
they now compel Them to close up dur
in church hours. Iforsee," said the bar
keeper, "that the weeks can be counted |
on fingers almost, during which there |
will be Sunday sales of liquor, in Wash |
ington City at least. In former times the |
distilleries and brewerles exerted but |
slight force in politics directly, for they
had no huge capital to put in the breach !
and carry elections. The whisky insur-
rection in 1894 in Western Pennsylvania |
was espnused by the small distillers who !
made few barrels on their rye farms,